Hoos Doing What
Art by Kim Salac
May 09, 2021
- “Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Brigers
I was going through some really bad Sad Girl Hours earlier this summer, so I started listening to “Motion Sickness.” I then took the Sad Girl Hours outside with my speaker to add extra dramatic effect. After spotting my RipStick that I hadn’t used in probably a year, I hopped on to see if I was still fast. I used to race my middle aged neighbor up my driveway before my
Art by Kim Salac
April 22, 2021
What does the UVA student look like? This is hard to answer when we rarely look alike. What could connect us when we come from all different backgrounds?
Immigrants, legacies, first-gen students.
Students whose families owned slaves and those whose ancestors were slaves.
Out of state students, the NOVA kids, and those from just down the road.
We are students of all different races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and socioeconomic
Art by Kim Salac
March 11, 2021
I tear the crinkly green wrapper open as I’m stepping out of the CVS. Hands searching the smooth, plastic exterior for the tiny ribbed circle wheel in the upper right corner. The black and lime disposable camera is so light in my hands, I wonder how it can capture anything at all. People stream past me as I stand in the middle of the sidewalk, some floating lazily by and others running late. The camera is a waiting room for new memories to saunter in unexpectedly. Unreliably. And though it’s
Art by Kim Salac
February 24, 2021
As the Pinterest app opens on my phone, I appreciate the ease with which I can search and browse a seemingly infinite supply of thumbprint cookie recipes.
Not endless, however, is my supply of butter, so after skimming an alluring recipe, I opt to cut it in half. After waiting not long enough for the butter to soften, I aggressively combine it with sugar (my arm workout for the week) and then begin the only process that makes me feel like a true chef: separating the egg yolk and the
Art by Kim Salac
November 19, 2020
A note to readers: The following piece was written prior to the results of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. In the time between the closing of polls and the announcement of President-Elect Joe Biden's victory, these ponderings came to be.
I’m not sure if I need to sleep for 12 hours or go for a run or hug my mom or read a book or smoke a cigarette. I’m not sure if I need to write something empowering or something messy. I’m not sure if I can write at
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
October 28, 2020
I fall in love every day. My boyfriend worries that I’m unfaithful. Little does he know.
There are nineteen glow-in-the dark-stars on the ceiling of my childhood bedroom. I know this because when I was little I could never fall asleep. Bedtime consisted of a distraught ten year old staring at the ceiling, counting stars that had already been counted and had nothing left to share. I hated the thought of being the last one awake — which is ironic now because I love the night, but also
Art by Kim Salac
October 13, 2020
I was in my bed, on the phone with him, and after roughly 15 seconds of silence he said to me: “Wanna know what I can’t stop thinking about?”
And I said,
“Yes,”
Because I always wanna know what he’s thinking about.
And he said,
“That moment at the end of a Zoom call, where everyone’s about to leave and we all wave to each other.”
Occasionally some people will turn their microphone on and give a little, “Thank you!! Bye!!”
Art by Kim Salac
September 29, 2020
True self-care is not bath salts and chocolate cake, it’s making the choice to build a life you don’t need to escape from.
- Brianna Wiest
We always say, “I miss the good old days.” But the thing about it is, these days are good. We just do not see the good in the day. So this year, I made a vow to appreciate every single day and to see the good, no matter how big or small. Cheesy? Maybe so.
I get to toggle through my crazy,
September 14, 2020
This summer was unendingly long and yet gone within a blink of the eye. The days blurred into each other like inky words on a damp sheet of paper: the individual lost within the blue-black smudge. More frequently than I’d like to admit, I woke without any concept of what day it was. The only thing that alerted me to the passage of time was a new notification from Co – Star, a popular astrology app. Its most well-documented feature is the daily
Art by Kirsten Hemrich
April 21, 2020
As we tried to come to terms with the quarantine and all it brought crashing down on us (farewell, UVA friends and life), we started cobbling together our recommendations for what to watch and read and play. Some of us had big lists, some small. Some of us had a lot to say, some of us little. That’s kind of how it’s all been. But big, small, loud, quiet, Iris is here for you, with our picks for getting through this thing… enjoy! And share your picks with us!